2024–25 UCLA Bruins women's basketball team

2024–25 UCLA Bruins women's basketball
Big Ten tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 3
Record	34–3 (16–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Cori Close (14th season)
Associate head coach	Shannon Perry-LeBeauf
Assistant coaches	Tasha Brown Tony Newnan Soh Matsuura James Clark
Home arena	Pauley Pavilion
Seasons ←  2023–24 2025–26  →

2024–25 Big Ten women's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 5 USC	17	–	1		.944			31	–	4		.886
No. 3 UCLA †	16	–	2		.889			34	–	3		.919
No. 19 Ohio State	13	–	5		.722			26	–	7		.788
No. 12 Maryland	13	–	5		.722			25	–	8		.758
No. 25 Michigan	11	–	7		.611			23	–	11		.676
Michigan State	11	–	7		.611			22	–	10		.688
Illinois	11	–	7		.611			22	–	10		.688
Oregon	10	–	8		.556			20	–	12		.625
Indiana	10	–	8		.556			20	–	13		.606
Nebraska	10	–	8		.556			21	–	12		.636
Iowa	10	–	8		.556			23	–	11		.676
Washington	9	–	9		.500			19	–	14		.576
Minnesota	8	–	10		.444			25	–	11		.694
Wisconsin	4	–	14		.222			13	–	17		.433
Rutgers	3	–	15		.167			13	–	20		.394
Purdue	3	–	15		.167			10	–	19		.345
Northwestern	2	–	16		.111			9	–	18		.333
Penn State	1	–	17		.056			10	–	19		.345
† 2025 Big Ten tournament winner As of April 7, 2025 Rankings from AP poll

The 2024–25 UCLA Bruins women's basketball team represented the University of California, Los Angeles during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bruins were led by head coach Cori Close in her fourteenth year, and played their home games at Pauley Pavilion. This marked the program's first season as a member of the Big Ten Conference. ^[1] The Bruins were ranked No. 1 in the polls for the first time in program history after defeating the defending 2024 national champion South Carolina on November 24, 2024. ^[2]

The 2024–25 season was the first for UCLA and USC in the Big Ten Conference and a notable chapter in the history of the UCLA–USC rivalry. The Bruins were undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the polls before the two teams met in 2025. On February 13, 2025, the No. 6 Trojans defeated the Bruins 71–60 for the Trojans' first victory against a No. 1 team at home. ^{[3] [4]} In the re-match at Pauley Pavilion on March 1, 2025, the Trojans and Bruins were tied for first place in the Big Ten in the final regular season game. In that game, No. 4 ranked USC Defeated No. 2 ranked UCLA 80–67 to win the regular season Big Ten championship. ^[5] Both games drew national attention and media coverage, with many celebrities in attendance. ^{[6] [7]} The teams met a third time in the 2025 Big Ten women's basketball tournament championship game on March 9, 2025. The Bruins defeated the Trojans to win the Big Ten Tournament championship and received the conference's automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. ^[8]

UCLA finished the regular season with a 27–2 record, 16–2 in conference and a second-place finish, with their only losses coming to USC. For the first time in school history, the UCLA Bruins were a number 1 seed and also the number 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. UCLA reached the Final Four of the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament for the first time in program history. ^{[lead 1] [9]} Arriving at the Final Four, the UCLA women's basketball team traveled more than any other in the country during the season with 36,116 air miles. ^[10] They lost to the eventual national champion UConn Huskies in a semi-final game. ^[11]

Previous season

The Bruins finished the 2023–24 season with a 27–7 record, including 13–5 in Pac-12 play to finish in third place. They received an at-large bid to the 2024 NCAA Tournament, and were eliminated in the sweet sixteen by LSU. ^[12]

Offseason

Departures

UCLA departures

Name	Num	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Emily Bessoir	11	F	6'4"	Redshirt junior	Munich, Germany	Graduated
Charisma Osborne	20	G	5'9"	Graduate student	Moreno Valley, CA	Graduated
Lina Sontag	21	F	6'3"	Sophomore	Kleinmachnow, Germany	Retired
Camryn Brown	35	G	5'11"	Graduate student	Lewisville, TX	Graduated
Izzy Anstey	43	F	6'4"	Redshirt junior	Melbourne, Australia	Graduated
Christeen Iwuala	22	F	6’2”	Sophomore	San Antonio, Texas	Transferred to Mississippi

Incoming

UCLA incoming transfers

Name	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Janiah Barker	F	6'4"	Junior	Marietta, GA	Texas A&M
Charlisse Leger-Walker	F	5'10"	Graduate student	Waikato, New Zealand	Washington State
Timea Gardiner	F	6'3"	Junior	Ogden, UT	Oregon State

Recruiting

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Kendall Dudley W	Centreville, VA	Sidwell Friends School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	N/A
	Recruit ratings: ESPN:     (96)
Avary Cain G	Santa Maria, CA	Saint Joseph High School	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	N/A
	Recruit ratings: ESPN:     (96)
Zania Socka-Nguemen F	Washington, D.C.	Sidwell Friends School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	N/A
	Recruit ratings: ESPN:     (95)
Elina Aarnisalo G	Helsinki, Finland	Mäkelänrinne Upper Secondary School	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	N/A
	Recruit ratings: ESPN:    (N/A)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2024 Player Commits". ESPN. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023.

Roster

2024–25 UCLA Bruins women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown F 0 Janiah Barker 6 ft 4 in(1.93 m) Jr Montverde Academy Texas A&M Marietta, GA G 1 Kiki Rice 5 ft 11 in(1.8 m) Jr Sidwell Friends Bethesda, MD G 2 Avary Cain 6 ft 1 in(1.85 m) Fr St. Joseph Santa Maria, CA G 3 Londynn Jones 5 ft 4 in(1.63 m) Jr Centennial Riverside, CA F 5 Charlisse Leger-Walker   5 ft 10 in(1.78 m) GS St Peter's School, Cambridge Washington State Waikato, New Zealand F 6 Zania Socka-Nguemen 6 ft 3 in(1.91 m) Fr Sidwell Friends Silver Spring, MD G 7 Elina Aarnisalo 5 ft 10 in(1.78 m) Fr Mäkelänrinne Upper Secondary School Helsinki, Finland F 11 Gabriela Jaquez 5 ft 11 in(1.8 m) Jr Camarillo Camarillo, CA F 22 Kendall Dudley 6 ft 2 in(1.88 m) Fr Sidwell Friends Manassas Park, VA F 30 Timea Gardiner 6 ft 3 in(1.91 m) Jr Fremont Oregon State Ogden, UT F 32 Angela Dugalić 6 ft 4 in(1.93 m) GS Maine West Oregon Des Plaines, IL F 33 Amanda Muse  6 ft 4 in(1.93 m) So Heritage Brentwood, CA C 51 Lauren Betts 6 ft 7 in(2.01 m) Jr Grandview Stanford Centennial, CO	Head coach Cori Close (UC Santa Barbara) Assistant coach(es) Shannon Perry-LeBeauf (Iowa) Tony Newnan (UC Santa Barbara) Tasha Brown (St. Ambrose) Soh Matsuura (UCLA) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: October 2, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 4, 2024* 11:30 a.m.,  ESPN2	No. 5	vs. No. 17  Louisville Aflac Oui-Play	W 66–59	1–0	Halle Georges Carpentier  (3,472) Paris, France
November 10, 2024* 2:00 p.m.,  B1G+	No. 5	Colgate	W 81–63	2–0	Pauley Pavilion  (3,285) Los Angeles, CA
November 12, 2024* 11:30 a.m., B1G+	No. 5	Pepperdine	W 91–54	3–0	Pauley Pavilion (3,898) Los Angeles, CA
November 17, 2024* 4:30 p.m., BTN	No. 5	Arkansas	W 101–52	4–0	Pauley Pavilion (2,255) Los Angeles, CA
November 24, 2024* 1:00 p.m.,  FS1	No. 5	No. 1  South Carolina	W 77–62	5–0	Pauley Pavilion (13,659) Los Angeles, CA
November 29, 2024* 2:00 p.m.	No. 1	vs.  UT Martin Rainbow Wahine Showdown	W 97–37	6–0	SimpliFi Arena   Honolulu, HI
November 30, 2024* 2:00 p.m.	No. 1	vs.  Fresno State Rainbow Wahine Showdown	W 97–41	7–0	SimpliFi Arena  Honolulu, HI
December 1, 2024* 4:30 p.m.,  ESPN+	No. 1	at  Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Showdown	W 70–49	8–0	SimpliFi Arena (2,481) Honolulu, HI
December 8, 2024 2:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 1	at  Washington	W 73–62	9–0 (1–0)	Alaska Airlines Arena  (3,453) Seattle, WA
December 14, 2024* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 1	at  Long Beach State	W 102–51	10–0	Walter Pyramid  (2,463) Long Beach, CA
December 16, 2024* 7:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 1	Cal Poly	W 69–37	11–0	Pauley Pavilion (2,356) Los Angeles, CA
December 20, 2024* 8:00 p.m., FS1	No. 1	vs.  Creighton Invisalign Bay Area Women's Classic	W 70–41	12–0	Chase Center  (3,766) San Francisco, CA
December 29, 2024 2:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 1	Nebraska	W 91–54	13–0 (2–0)	Pauley Pavilion (5,339) Los Angeles, CA
January 1, 2025 2:00 p.m., BTN	No. 1	No. 24  Michigan	W 86–70	14–0 (3–0)	Pauley Pavilion (4,566) Los Angeles, CA
January 4, 2025 9:00 a.m.,  FOX	No. 1	at  Indiana	W 73–62	15–0 (4–0)	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall  (11,528) Bloomington, IN
January 7, 2025 4:00 p.m., BTN	No. 1	at  Purdue	W 83–49	16–0 (5–0)	Mackey Arena  (3,742) West Lafayette, IN
January 12, 2025 2:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 1	Northwestern	W	16–0 (6–0)	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, CA
January 15, 2025 6:30 p.m.,  Peacock	No. 1	Penn State	W 83–67	17–0 (7–0)	Walter Pyramid [a]  (1,563) Long Beach, CA
January 20, 2025 12:00 p.m., FOX	No. 1	vs. No. 25  Baylor Coretta Scott King Classic	W 72–57	18–0	Prudential Center  (6,147) Newark, NJ
January 23, 2025 4:00 p.m., FS1	No. 1	at  Rutgers	W 84–66	19–0 (8–0)	Jersey Mike's Arena  (3,138) Piscataway, NJ
January 26, 2025 11:00 a.m.,  NBC	No. 1	at No. 8  Maryland	W 82–67	20–0 (9–0)	Xfinity Center  (13,648) College Park, MD
February 2, 2025 12:00 p.m., BTN	No. 1	Minnesota	W 79–53	21–0 (10–0)	Pauley Pavilion (6,184) Los Angeles, CA
February 5, 2025 6:30 p.m., Peacock	No. 1	No. 8  Ohio State	W 65–52	22–0 (11–0)	Pauley Pavilion (6,822) Los Angeles, CA
February 9, 2025 1:00 p.m., B1G+	No. 1	at  Oregon	W 62–52	23–0 (12–0)	Matthew Knight Arena  (6,534) Eugene, OR
February 13, 2025 7:00 p.m., Peacock	No. 1	at No. 6  USC Rivalry	L 60–71	23–1 (12–1)	Galen Center  (10,258) Los Angeles, CA
February 16, 2025 6:00 p.m., BTN	No. 1	No. 22  Michigan State	W 75–69	24–1 (13–1)	Pauley Pavilion (7,563) Los Angeles, CA
February 20, 2025 6:30 p.m., BTN	No. 3	No. 25  Illinois	W 70–55	25–1 (14–1)	Pauley Pavilion (5,435) Los Angeles, CA
February 23, 2025 11:00 a.m., Peacock	No. 3	at  Iowa	W 67–65	26–1 (15–1)	Carver–Hawkeye Arena  (14,998) Iowa City, IA
February 26, 2025 5:00 p.m., Peacock	No. 2	at  Wisconsin	W 91–61	27–1 (16–1)	Kohl Center  (3,897) Madison, WI
March 1, 2025 6:00 p.m., FOX	No. 2	No. 4 USC Rivalry	L 67–80	27–2 (16–2)	Pauley Pavilion (13,659) Los Angeles, CA
Big Ten women's tournament
March 7, 2025 3:30 p.m., BTN	(2) No. 4	vs. (10) Nebraska Quarterfinals	W 85–74	28–2	Gainbridge Fieldhouse  (7,500) Indianapolis, IN
March 8, 2025 5:30 p.m., BTN	(2) No. 4	vs. (3) No. 13 Ohio State Semifinals	W 75–46	29–2	Gainbridge Fieldhouse (7,805) Indianapolis, IN
March 9, 2025 1:30 p.m.,  CBS	(2) No. 4	vs. (1) No. 2 USC Championship/Rivalry	W 72–67	30–2	Gainbridge Fieldhouse (8,358) Indianpolis, IN
NCAA women's tournament
March 21, 2025* 7:00 p.m.,  ESPN	(1 S1) No. 1	(16 S1)  Southern First Round	W 84–46	31–2	Pauley Pavilion (5,703) Los Angeles, CA
March 23, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN	(1 S1) No. 1	(8 S1)  Richmond Second Round	W 84–67	32–2	Pauley Pavilion (6,119) Los Angeles, CA
March 28, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN	(1 S1) No. 1	vs. (5 S1) No. 25  Ole Miss Sweet Sixteen	W 76–62	33–2	Spokane Arena  (8,789) Spokane, WA
March 30, 2025* 12:00 p.m., ABC	(1 S1) No. 1	vs. (3 S1) No. 10  LSU Elite Eight	W 72–65	34–2	Spokane Arena (9,299) Spokane, WA
April 4, 2025* 6:30 p.m, ESPN	(1 S1) No. 1	vs. (2 S4) No. 3  UConn Final Four	L 51–85	34–3	Amalie Arena  (19,731) Tampa, FL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S1=Spokane 1. S4=Spokane 4. All times are in Pacific Time. Source: [14] [15]

Notes:

1. Game moved from Pauley to the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach due to the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles. ^[13]

Rankings

Main article: 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	5	5	5	1 (20)	1 (25)	1 (24)	1 (30)	1 (30)	1 (30)	1 (30)	1 (29)	1 (27)	1 (31)	1 (32)	1 (31)	3 (6)	2 (11)	4	1 (16)	1 (19)	3
Coaches	6	6	6	2 (14)	1 (16)	1 (23)	1 (31)	1 (30)	1 (31)	1 (31)	1 (30)	1 (29)	1 (30)	1 (29)	1 (31)	3 (3)	2 (7)	4	1 (20)	1 (21)	3

Awards and honors

• February 20, 2025 – Lauren Betts broke the school record with 67 blocks in a season ^[16]
• March 9, 2025 – Lauren Betts was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team and was the most outstanding player ^[17]
• March 9, 2025 – First Big Ten Tournament Championship and First 30 wins in a season ^[18]
• March 19, 2025 – Lauren Betts was named as both an AP ^[19] and a USBWA ^[20] First Team All–American ^[21]
• March 20, 2025 – Coach Cori Close was named USBWA Coach of the Year ^[22]
• March 24, 2025 – Coach Cori Close was named a finalist for the Naismith College Coach of the Year ^[23]
• March 25, 2025 – Lauren Betts was named one of four finalists for the Naismith Women's Player of the Year ^[24]
• March 26 , 2025 – Tony Newnan was named the WBCA Assistant Coach of the Year ^[25]
• April 2, 2025 – Coach Cori Close was the 2025 Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year ^[26]
• April 2, 2025 – Lauren Betts was named the 2025 Naismith Women’s College Defensive Player of the Year ^[27]
• April 2, 2025 – Kiki Rice received the NCAA Elite 90 Award ^[28]
• April 3, 2025 - Cori Close was named The Associated Press Coach of the Year ^[29]
• April 4, 2025 – Lauren Betts was named to the John R. Wooden Award Women’s All America team ^[30]
• April 5, 2025 – Lauren Betts was named the Lisa Leslie Center of The Year ^[31]
• April 6, 2025 – Lauren Betts was named to the NCAA WBB Final Four all-tournament team ^[32]

References

1. "UCLA Officially Joins Big Ten Conference". uclabruins.com. August 2, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
2. UCLA moves up to No. 1 in AP Top 25 women's basketball poll for first time in history. CBS News, November 25, 2024
3. No. 1 Women’s Basketball Visits No. 6 USC Thursday UCLA Bruins Sport Information, February 12, 2025
4. Mitchell, Houston - The Sports Report: JuJu Watkins leads USC to an upset win over UCLA Los Angeles Times, February 14, 2025
5. Kartje, Ryan - JuJu Watkins and No. 4 USC crush No. 2 UCLA to claim Big Ten title. Los Angeles Times, March 1, 2025
6. Merchant, Sabreena - In statement win, did USC's JuJu Watkins prove herself as national Player of the Year? New York Times, February 13, 2025
7. Miele, Angela - Myles Garrett, Cheryl Miller, Reggie Miller Attend USC Trojans' Win Over UCLA Bruins. Sports Illustrated, March 2, 2025
8. Guzman, Ed - UCLA women surge in second half to defeat USC for Big Ten tournament championship. Los Angeles Times, March 9, 2025.
9. Knoblauch, Austin - The Sports Report: UCLA women make history on Selection Sunday Los Angeles Times, March 17, 2025
10. Jennings, Chantel - UCLA is the top seed in women’s March Madness. It only took 36,000 miles to get there. New York Times, The Athletic, March 20, 2025
11. Nguyen, Thuc Nhi - UCLA's run to the Final Four ends in record rout by UConn: 'We got our butts beat.' Los Angeles Times, April 4, 2025
12. "Bruins Fall to LSU in Sweet Sixteen, 78-69". uclabruins.com. March 30, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
13. "Penn State vs UCLA game moved from Pauley to the Walter Pyramid". January 12, 2025. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
14. "2024-25 Women's Basketball Schedule". uclabruins.com. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
15. "Big Ten Announces 2024-25 Women's Basketball Conference Schedule". uclabruins.com. September 19, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
16. De Leon, Anthony - Lauren Betts breaks a school record in UCLA victory over Illinois. Los Angeles Times, February 20, 2025
17. "2025 WBB All-Tournament Team" (PDF). BigTen.org. March 9, 2025. Retrieved March 9, 2025.
18. Women’s Basketball Captures Big Ten Championship Over Trojans, 72-67. UCLABRUINS.com, March 9, 2025
19. Feinberg, Doug - JuJu Watkins, Hannah Hidalgo headline women’s AP All-America team; Bueckers, Betts, Booker join them. Associated Press, March 19, 2025
20. Greenberg, Mel - USBWA unveils 2024-25 Women's All-America Team U.S. Basketball Writers Association, March 19, 2025
21. Considine, Madeline - Bruins Star Lauren Betts Reaches New Heights. Sports Illustrated, March 21, 2025
22. Moran, Malcom - UCLA's Close is USBWA Women's National Coach of the Year. U.S. Basketball Writers Association, March 20, 2025
23. Dawn Staley, Jon Scheyer Headline Finalists for Naismith Coach of the Year Awards. Sports Illustrated, March 24, 2025 Note: "...four-time Naismith winner South Carolina's Dawn Staley leads the nominee list. ... The other nominees include TCU's Mark Campbell, UCLA’s Cori Close and Southern California’s Lindsay Gottlieb, who are all first-time nominees... "
24. Considine, Madeleine - Bruins' Anchor Lauren Betts Makes Naismith Push. Sports Illustrated, March 26, 2025
25. Considine, Madeleine - Longtime UCLA Assistant Earns National Honor. Sports Illustrated, March 27, 2025
26. Considine, Madeline -Bruins' Cori Close Earns Another National Coaching Honor. Sports Illustrated, April 3, 2025, In the midst of a record-breaking season and UCLA’s first NCAA Final Four appearance, Coach Cori Close has been honored as the 2025 Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year.
27. Cavanaugh, Tom - Bruins' Betts Wins Prestigious National Award. Sports Illustrated, April 3, 2025
28. Simms, Brandy - Former Sidwell Friends girls basketball star earns NCAA Elite 90 award. Sports Illustrated, April 3, 2025
29. Feinberg, Doug - UCLA’s Cori Close is the AP Coach of the Year after a historic season for the top-seeded Bruins. Associated Press, ABC4 KTVX, April 3, 2025
30. "2024-25 Women's All America Team & Top 5". John R. Wooden Award. John R. Wooden Award. Retrieved April 11, 2025.
31. NAISMITH BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME REVEALS WINNERS OF MEN AND WOMEN’S NAISMITH STARTING FIVE AWARDS ON ESPN’S COLLEGE GAMEDAY. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall Of Fame, April 5, 2025
32. Women's March Madness: All-Tournament Teams in NCAA history. ESPN, April 8, 2025

Notes

1. The UCLA Bruins women's basketball team has played in the semi-finals of the AIAW women's basketball tournament twice, winning the championship in 1978